Easy Ways to Go Green

Being sustainable starts at home!
Here are ways to be green around the house:

• Study in daylight whenever you can.
• If you bring a lamp to school, make sure to buy a compact CFL. They use 20% less energy than regular bulbs and last 10x longer.
• Be sure to communicate with your roommate as to who is bringing the fridge to share. There is really no need to have more than 1 fridge in a room. Also, instead of buying a new one, check out re-sale websites like eBay, Craig's List, or FreeCycle and re-use (It's one of the 3 R's!)
• Wash clothes in cold water. It gets them just as clean and uses much less energy.
• Use greener laundry detergent that are plant-based and free of phosphates, which can cause algae blooms.
• Did you know there is a backside to all of the paper you use? And that backside doesn't get used very often! When you need a scratch piece of paper or need to print something not important, be sure to use that backside!
• Is there a phantom in your room? Phantom power that is! When you leave for class, be sure to turn off the power strips in your room. There's no reason why your TV needs to pull power when you're in class.
• Remember that batteries and ink cartridges can be recycled.
• Use eco-friendly cleaning products like Method, Seventh Generation, or Clorox Greenworks.
• Be sure that your appliances are Energy-Star rated.

Information provided by Stanford Office of Sustainability